The Girl Behind the Mask
by MissCar
Summary: What is underneath the entire pretense that is Sharpay Evans?
1. The Enigma That is Sharpay Evans

**The Girl Behind the Mask**

Summary: Who is Sharpay Evans? Chad is determined to find out. If only she will let him. Post HSM 3

Yes, I'm starting a new story. Don't worry it's probably only going to be three chapters. I want to get this out of the way before I start on my rewrite of HSM3. I'm still working on Scenes From Freshman Year. I should have a new chapter of that late this week or early next week.

This is going to start as a T, but knowing Chad and Sharpay it may become an M.

Pairings: Chad/OC, Sharpay/Chad

A couple of months ago, Digigirl02 ask me to write a story based on the song Masquerade by the Backstreet Boys. This is the story I came up with.

"_I gotta know the girl behind the mask  
Let me in, where you've been, don't pretend  
Dreamed that I had her alone  
Show your face to me, we could be everything"_

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Part one: The Enigma That is Sharpay Evans

No one really knows Sharpay Evans. She is an excellent performer in life as well as on the stage. Even Ryan would be hard pressed to tell anybody who is sister really was underneath her many personas. Chad has known her sense seventh grade when her family moved to Albuquerque from Newport and still doesn't really know who she is.

At times he thought he knew, but now he knows better. In junior high he thought she was the new girl desperately trying to find her place. She hid behind her pink backpack and Ryan. She used her family wealth to make new friends who only liked her for what she could give them. No one was allowed to penetrate beyond the surface.

In high school, he thought she was the ice queen bitch trying to take his best friend away from him. It turns out that was Gabriella's role. Troy was still doing wonderful at Berkeley, a year and a half later with a new girlfriend that Chad can actually tolerate.

Gabriella left half way during freshman year after snapping under the pressure. He really didn't know where the woman was now. He knew Taylor would know, but he rarely talk to her nowadays. It really didn't matter now.

At Lava Springs, Sharpay was the one in charge. She ruled over her Kingdome without thinking and with absolute power. At least that is what he thought his first summer at Lava Springs. The second summer she started to let him see that she was more than that. Last summer he already knew that those personas were all facades finally crafted by a master actress. The only problem was she wouldn't let him see underneath the façade.

In college, Sharpay wore so many different masks he wasn't even sure who she was anymore. He was positive none of those personas were remotely real are at the very least only slightly real. She was still the ice queen bitch sometimes. Other times she was that new girl desperately trying to fit in. Other times she was a great person who would do anything to help anyone. Sometimes she was the diva of stage. Other times she was the writing major trying to create her next play. She is a million different things, but were any of them really her? He didn't know.

* * *

He started to see beyond Sharpay's traditional persona during the summer between senior year of high school and freshman year of college. They bonded over their mutual frustration about being the only ones staying in town. He was the only one of the group working there that summer and for some reason he and Sharpay hung out a lot. (Ryan left for NYC early leaving Sharpay alone that summer.) There were even a couple of nights where they ate junk food and talked about being dump by various friends, lovers, and siblings.

There were both angry about being dumped by Troy for Gabriella. For Sharpay it was losing her crush and her acting partner. For Chad, it was like losing his other half.

Even though Troy is really just a friend he feels like he's been dumped. He's more upset about Troy leaving him than he is about Taylor leaving. The only difference is he is still friends with Troy. Over the last two years, he's emailed Taylor a grand total of five times. It does not matter because he has been over Taylor for a long time.

When college begins, he realizes he spends a lot of time with Sharpay on campus. He doesn't really know why because he used to hate her. Sometimes he still does. When she's being Sharpay the bitch, he can't stand her. When she's tutoring freshman at East High, he thinks she's the most wonderful person in the world. At some point, they become friends. He has no idea how.

* * *

Sharpay being a sorority girl doesn't surprise him. Although at this point in their relationship, nothing Sharpay does really surprise him anymore. The thing that might be a little shocking is Sharpay decides to join a historically African American sorority. Her excuse was it was the only sorority on campus where she wouldn't be a legacy and they allow anybody to join now. Chad understands not wanting to be in someone else's shadow. The good thing about Troy being at Berkeley is for once Chad isn't constantly compared to Troy.

During the second semester of their freshman year Sharpay makes him go on a date with the vice president of her sorority Cam. They work out in a casual way and for some reason Sharpay is pissed. He doesn't understand why Sharpay is upset. She was the one who forced him to go out with Cam in the first place. He will never understand the mind of Sharpay Evans.

* * *

That summer he works at Lava Springs again but this time he is Sharpay's personal assistant. Basically he gets paid twice as much as the year before to hang out with Sharpay and keep idiots from hitting on her at the pool. Because she's his friend he probably would do that anyway. She even gets Troy a job there. Things go much better than that first summer or maybe he's just used to being around Sharpay and no longer had the urge to throw her in a lake.

In front of everyone she is still the same ice queen she always was in high school. When there alone in her suite she's his best friend. Sometimes he thinks of her as more than a friend, but doesn't want to cross that line.

Troy couldn't understand how Chad was so close to Sharpay now. Chad could not explain it either. He tried to explain about the many masks she wore. Troy didn't believe him. Chad was positive he was the only person who was aware that no one really saw the truth face of Sharpay Evans.

* * *

It's three weeks to Valentine's Day 2010 and he's waiting outside the meeting room to pick up Cam for their almost date. He has nothing to do but listen in on the meeting. He's surprised to hear Cam suggest that the annual Valentine's Day Masquerade Ball become a charity benefit for Haiti disaster relief.

He's not just surprise because Cam suggested something that selfless. He is starting to see that Cam is the opposite of Sharpay. The more he gets to know Cam, the more likely he knows this relationship will fall apart at any moment. He doubts they will make it to Valentine's Day.

He's more shocked because Cam suggested what he and Sharpay talked about last night. He knows everyone here sees Sharpay as the shallow rich White girl. (Even though she is a quarter Hispanic.) Sharpay plays the role given to her perfectly never doing anything to give off the impression that she's more than a stereotype.

When he worked as her personal assistant he saw firsthand how much she gave to charity. It wasn't just her money, but her time as well. He remembered going with her last summer when she volunteered at a local day camp for underprivileged children. She helped the children stage their own play. When she was with the children, he saw this part of her that no one else ever saw. She was laughing and smiling. It was so great.

The more time he spends with Sharpay, the more confused he becomes. He realizes that all the different personas are mask that she wears. He is aware of this, but he still can't get underneath. He never wanted to do anything more because he realizes he's starting to fall in love with her regardless.

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A/N: Tell me what you think.


	2. Progress

Thank you to everyone who read the first part, as well as, those who reviewed. Thank you to everyone who put this story on alert or added this story to your favorites. Please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters.

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Part two: Progress

It was 3 days to the Ball on Saturday and he and Sharpay are finalizing plans for the masquerade benefit. They were at his house or rather his grandmother's house going over the final details. Sharpay found the venue, the caterers, organizing the volunteers, and arranged for publicity. Chad found the band and drafted some of his teammates to help with setup. They always worked well together and he does not question why he is working on this. It just something he needs to do.

After high school graduation he was given three options: get a job in pay for the dorms, stay with his parents who still treated him like he was two, or a move in with his grandmother who needed help but actually treated him as an adult. He decided that living with his grandmother was the best option. It is like having a 65 year old roommate who just happens to be related to you.

His grandmother loves Sharpay and wants them to get together. Actually his grandmother was the first person he's ever meant that like Sharpay instantly without expecting something from her. Then again his grandmother's a lot like Sharpay. They even looked a lot alike. They're both 1 million different people at the same moment, yet most people don't understand them.

Sharpay was the only one he would bring here. She is the only one who is allowed inside himself and this house. If only she would give him the same courtesy. At the same time, he cannot bring Cam here to his home. It would make their relationship a little too real. If he is truly honest with himself he cared a lot more about Sharpay then Cam. He loved Sharpay even though he does not say it out loud. He barely tolerated Cam and is very pissed off at the woman at the moment.

He's angry at Cam because he realizes that she uses everyone to make herself look better. Sharpay has overseen every aspect of this ball from the beginning to end. She was even the one that convinced him to volunteer. The only thing Cam did was take credit for the whole thing.

No one in high school would believe that Sharpay was doing all this work and not take the credit. The more time he spends with her the more he realizes she's great at letting people see what she wants them to see. Now he knows she did a lot of good things in high school that no one knew about. For example the reason why they had fabulous sets for their senior musical was Sharpay convinced her family to make a very generous donation to the school anonymously. That donation is still being made even though she and her brother have graduated. In ninth grade, Sharpay secretly headed the committee for the schools Katrina benefit.

Although intervention by Darby got all of his other friends jobs at lava springs, he found out last summer from Fulton that sharpay was the one who had him hired. She was also the one who recommended that he be hired again the next summer.

Cam was the absolute opposite. Cam wanted everyone to know what she did even when she didn't do it. It's all about popularity and fame for her. She never missed an opportunity to be seen in public with him. Sometimes he is convinced she is only dating him because he was on the A of U basketball team. Cam was an absolute shallow bitch.

Today as they were finalizing the menu with the caterer over the phone Chad decided to turn on the television. Cam was on the local news giving another interview. Not once did she mention that he and Sharpay were doing all the work. If it wasn't for the talking point Sharpay e-mail to her Blackberry, Cam would not even know that the event was taking place at Lava Springs.

"Personally I think we should let her go to the next interview without any preparation whatsoever. I worked on this more than she did. She didn't even know where Haiti was before the earthquake. She's such a shallow self-centered bitch. " Chad said in annoyance as he turns off the television.

"You're the one sleeping with her." Sharpay pointed out to him in a very annoying way.

"Your point is? It is just sex. It doesn't mean anything. She doesn't love me. I don't love her." In his mind he silently says "I love you". Of course he would never say those words to Sharpay out loud. He values their friendship too much for things to change.

"She is my own personal Zeke. I'm only with her because I can't have what I really want. It doesn't matter she is only dating me for the sake of being seen. You know like in high school when you wanted to date Troy just because he was captain of the basketball team." He says that last part as a joke to break the tension. Lately there's been a lot of tension between them. Not all of it was related to Cam.

"That wasn't why I wanted to date Troy. If I wanted to date the basketball captain for the sake of popularity, I would have dated you." She says this with a smile.

"So that's the only reason why you would date me?" He says it as a joke but he's kind of serious.

"In high school, yes. Back then, I didn't realize how great you were. You're too good for that's shallow bitch." Sharpay said that part under her breath but he still heard her.

"Why do you hate her so much? You're the one who made me take her on a date in the first place."

"It wasn't like I had a choice." She whispers the statement, but he hears it anyway.

"No one makes Sharpay Evans do anything she doesn't want to do." Even as he says the words he realizes that statements not as true as he would like it to be. Sometimes he wonders if she pretends to be other things to make other people happy.

"You and I are going to have to have a long talk about my psychotic family when we're not putting a charity benefit together. Your shallow bitch of a girlfriend threatened to have me kicked out of the sorority if I didn't set her up with my very hot up and coming basketball star friend." Now Chad was pissed. The bitch was going down.

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After dropping Sharpay off in her room he stopped by Cam's room to tell her exactly how he felt. She walked up to him to give him a kiss and he pulled away instantly. He couldn't stand her touch.

"What's wrong? Usually you enjoy kissing me." She said completely oblivious to what was going on.

"That's about the only part of this relationship I enjoy. Even the sex isn't that good." He said the words as angrily as he could. "I had the most interesting conversation with Sharpay this afternoon."

"What did you and your "special friend" talk about?" She said it bitterly looking at him directly.

"Just the usual stuff about us planning an event that you're taking complete credit for. She finally told me the real reason why she made me go on a date with you." At that point the conversation deteriorated quickly into a shouting match. Accusations flew back and forth until the final one came out.

"Stop with the pretense. It is just not you. I know you don't want to be with me because of her." The words were angry and bitter as spoken by a child losing her favorite toy.

"She is my friend." That was the understatement of the year.

"How could anybody be friends with that shallow airhead? You're only with her because you want to screw her." That statement made him want to hit her, but he held himself back.

"Her GPA is higher than yours. She actually cares about things other than designer shoes and looking good for the sake of a phony image. She so much more than you can ever be."

"Her image is just as finely crafted as mind. Nobody spends an hour and a half in the bathroom if they were not concern about their image." He knew Cam was right in a way.

Sharpay was very concerned about how people see her. However, it was not in the way Cam thought. Sharpay cared about how people saw her because she didn't want people to really see her. He was the only one who knew that the image of Sharpay Evans was just that, an image. If they really see you, they can hurt you.

"Maybe you're right. The difference is she's actually better than her perceived image. She's definitely better than you." Chad said as he walked out the door.

"If you want to end this, that's fine. However, I still expect you here by 7 PM Saturday."

"Like that is going to happen." He said as he slammed the door behind him. He's so angry he doesn't see Sharpay until he ran into her. It's obvious that she was listening in on the entire conversation. He wouldn't expect anything less of his best friend. Where did that come from? At some point she took Troy's place as his best friend. He is still trying to figure out when that happened.

"You heard everything?"

"Yeah. Thank you for defending me in there. No one does that for me." Thankfully she didn't mention Cam's accusation.

"You are my best friend. I'm not going to let her hurt you. He says it as he kisses her on the forehead. She rarely let him do that, but today she does. That's what makes him happy despite the current circumstances.

"Since you're not going to the ball with her royal bitchiness, do you want to go with me?" She seemed so nervous. He's never seen her that nervous and shy before. Shy is not something that he normally associates with her. For a moment he thinks maybe she's letting him in.

"I love to. You were already making me get a suit that matched your dress anyway." He said kissing her on the cheek this time. He sees the whole thing as a sign of progress.


End file.
